Weiskopf Renews Competitive Fire

NOTEBOOK

April 16, 1999|By RANDALL MELL Staff Writer

PALM BEACH GARDENS — Tom Weiskopf doesn't take the game as seriously as he did in his prime, but he seemed to enjoy playing himself into contention Thursday in the first round of the PGA Seniors' Championship.

Weiskopf shot a 1-under-par 71 and is five shots back.

"I played well in spots," Weiskopf said. "I scrambled pretty well."

Weiskopf, 56, more devoted to golf course architecture than competition these days, hasn't won on the Senior PGA Tour since 1996. He won the 1973 British Open and 15 other PGA Tour events in his prime.

Though Weiskopf says he doesn't worry about his game much now, he seems to be renewing his desire to compete. He's playing his sixth Senior PGA Tour event this year. He didn't play an event last year. He played just five times in 1997.

Weiskopf birdied the difficult par-3 17th to get into red numbers, and he nearly birdied the 18th, missing a 3-footer for birdie.

"It seemed like I played the difficult holes well, and the holes you don't worry as much about I struggled with," Weiskopf said.

Dill a survivor

Terry Dill was glowing over his 69.

Dill, who has one Senior PGA Tour victory, said he's fortunate just to be playing.

"I'm the luckiest guy in the world, all the troubles I've had," Dill said. "I'm deaf in one ear. I don't have a balance nerve. I had a cataract taken out. And, a few things I wouldn't want to talk about."

Dill, 59, says he's playing the best golf of his life despite his physical setbacks. He had a benign tumor removed from his right ear in 1991, and the nerve damage affected his balance.

Dill feels as if he got a new set of eyes when he hired Rockwell Hobday as his caddie in October of '97.

"He's 35, and he can really see," Dill said.

Dill credits his caddie with significantly improving his putting.

"I don't read my putts," Dill said. "He reads all my putts.

"I can make quite a few putts between 10 and 15 feet, where I wasn't making any before, because now I have a caddie who can really read the greens."

Dill is trying to make the most of what's left of his 50s.

"I'm going to be 60 in May, so I'm doing everything I can to push that off," Dill said. "But it seems to be inevitable.

"I take all these vitamins and supplements, and I work out and have a trainer and all that stuff. I'm doing everything, but Father Time keeps marching on."

Trevino misses wedge

Lee Trevino's biggest mistake might have come before he teed it up at the first hole on Thursday morning.

"I made a boo-boo," Trevino said. "I took the pitching wedge out of my bag, and I needed a pitching wedge six times."

Trevino shot a 71. He said he pulled the pitching wedge to replace it with a 9-wood to deal with shots in the rough. He said he was in the rough just once in the first round.

Arnie `all class'

Arnold Palmer sanked a 45-footer for birdie at the 10th hole to move to 1 under, but his fortunes sagged with a quadruple-bogey 8 at the 13th hole. He rinsed his drive, topped a shot and left a shot in a bunker.

Palmer was going for his second round under par in his last three rounds on the Senior PGA Tour, but he finished with a 79. "Maybe I had too many thoughts of grandeur," Palmer said.

Playing partner Bruce Fleisher said Palmer's demeanor through his poor play on the back nine impressed.

"He never complained, never slammed his club," Fleisher said. "He was all class."

Barnes withdraws

Brian Barnes withdrew with a neck injury after four holes. ... Roger Kennedy, the former Pompano Beach Municipal professional, shot a 77. ... Wes Smith, a teaching pro at The Club at Emerald Hills in Hollywood, also shot 77.